Investment banks face up to a miserable reckoning

All the indicators suggest that the investment banking industry is coming to the end of an era

If you haven’t already started lobbying for your bonus this year, it is probably too late. But then again, you probably didn’t stand much of a chance of getting one anyway.

The investment banking landscape is bleak. Reduced levels of activity on the back of economic uncertainty and the European sovereign debt crisis have combined with the increased regulatory cost of doing business and overcapacity to drive down profitability across the industry.

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